BAKERSFIELD, CA - The Kern County coroner confirmed Wednesday what many had feared. The office says a baby girl, known as Baby Beardsley, found dead in a trash can last summer, was murdered. Her body was beaten and burned. The coroner released the autopsy results nearly seven months after her death.
Investigators hope this brings public attention back to the case. That's because Kern County Sheriff's Department Public Information Officer, Ray Pruitt says they're at a standstill.
"You could tell that part of her body had been been burned, possibly set on fire," said Pruitt of the baby's body.
It was on June 21, 2013 that the baby girl, just days old, was found dead in a trash can in Oildale.
"These are the types of cases that really take their toll, and we want to know what happened to this baby," said Pruitt.
Detectives immediately began investigating the death as a homicide. Their suspicions were confirmed Wednesday as the coroner officially made that call.
The report named blunt force trauma, thermal burns, and carboxyhemoglogin intoxication as the cause of death. That means she was overcome with carbon monoxide, possibly smoke inhalation.
It's very tragic, very sad to hear about this, "said neighbor Ray Ballard.
Ballard helped organize a prayer vigil through his organization, Soulwinner Children's Network of Hope, shortly after her death.
"There's still a lot of unanswered things I believe that people want to know. But all in all, I think that through this, I think it brought some people closer together. It brought our community closer together," said Ballard.
Hundreds of people showed up as the baby, named Gabriella, was laid to rest in the Garden of Innocence last September. Investigators collected DNA from her before the burial and entered it in a national database. So far, there have been no matches.
And, the hundreds of leads have been dead ends.
"It's a case that we really want to solve. There are people out in our community or in some community who need to be held accountable for what happened to this child," said Pruitt.
Pruitt hopes someone comes forward now to identify a possible parent or family member. He says investigators can order a DNA sample from them to see if it's a match. If you have a tip, call the Sheriff's Department at 861-3110.